Warhammer 40,000: Tyranids by Valeria
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Warhammer 40,000: Tyranids By Valeria Introduction Warhammer 40,000. A galaxy where there is only war. Men, aliens, daemon and robots all battle for conquest, extermination and to serve their dark masters. It’s a dark, grim world to find yourself in and hope is rare to find. But as bad as it may seem, as hopeless as life may feel, a growing threat seeks to make it so much worse. The Great Devourer draws ever nearer to this galaxy that teems with life. The Tyranid swarm ever hungers. The Tyranids are a race that travelled from outside this galaxy. They seek only to feed and eat and devour. There is no culture, no history, no love. The entire race exists as a united hivemind, the combined psychic and mental energies of every Tyranid organism that directs the species to devour all biological life and continuously evolve. Their true number and origin is unknown. Perhaps they have devoured countless galaxies already and what fleets of Tyranids have arrived, each taking a devastating toll on sections of the galaxy, are mere fragments of the great beast. Or perhaps what has been seen so far is all there is to the race. Whatever the truth of the Tyranid race is, you now find yourself to be one of these organisms. You’ll be on one of the existing fleets during their invasions into this galaxy or an entirely new fleet. For the next ten years, you’ll be responsible for fulfilling a role assigned by your species, so as to drive your entire species ever onwards towards victory. You have 1000 Choice Points (CP) with which to gain extra advantages to assist your endeavours. Hive Fleet The below choices represent what Hive Fleet you are a part of. You may begin at any point in that Hive Fleet’s timeline, from the moment they first entered the galaxy to the final major battle that has been recorded for that specific Fleet. You may freely choose your Hive Fleet. Behemoth- 745.M41 The first of the Hive Fleets, the one that resulted in the Tyranids gaining their name due to the initial battle on planet Tyran. Behemoth was, as the name implies, a brutish fleet with no strategy or subtlety. Behemoth used numbers and raw strength to charge through as much space as it could, meeting its end at the Ultramarine home world of Macragge. Naga- 012801.M41 A smaller fleet, that came after the great Behemoth. Attacking the southern fringe of the Galaxy, Naga met with little human resistance. Instead, Fleet Naga was responsible for the extinctions of dozens of small alien races and for multiple wars against the Eldar, which eventually resulted in its destruction. Gorgon- 599899.M41 Gorgon Fleet was notable for its exceptional speed at adaptation and evolution, even compared to other Hive Fleets. It would do battle against the Tau empire and, later, a short lived alliance between Tau and the Imperium in the area. While Kraken would eventually falter against this alliance, it took no small number of worlds with it. Kraken- 990.M41 After Behemoth, Kraken was the next truly major threat to the Galaxy as a whole. As opposed to the brute tactic of Behemoth, Hive Fleet Kraken split itself into many smaller fleets that worked as one, attacking from many directions at once and spreading death and fear far further afield. It took the combined forces of the Eldar and the Imperium to halt Kraken and even then, it became a very close thing, only possible because the Tyranids had split its focus. Leviathan- 997.M41 The latest, greatest and most current of the Hive Fleets. Hive Fleet Leviathan took everything the Tyranid race had learnt from its previous battles and applied it to nightmarish effect. It attacked from beneath the Galaxy, striking upwards at countless worlds across its expanse. Even now, battles still rage onwards against the menace of Leviathan, a Fleet that some fear may eventually threaten Holy Terra itself. Other Fleets- Variable Numerous smaller fleets exist that have not been addressed above or are simply not known to us at this time. So long as it is a smaller fleet and does not contradict anything major, such as a small hive Fleet that attacked the underside of the galaxy before Leviathan, then you may create your own Hive Fleet to be a part of. Do remember that you are just a part of this new hive fleet, not its owner. You are, after all, a hive. Origins Any of the following origins may optionally be a Drop In origin. Infiltrator The Genestealers scout ahead of the Hive Fleet, working in packs to prepare and weaken prey worlds for the arrival of the main forces. Sneaking into the cities of other races, infiltrating their very species with cults of infected and controlled servants, they are invaluable to the great hunt of the swarm. As a Genestealer, you will likely be either landing on an as yet untouched Imperial world or already in the midst of an infiltration operation when you awake here. Genestealers are lethal beasts to most humans but are not particularly suited for constant combat. So it is good that your role here will be one of espionage and sabotage and assassination. Command As powerful as the hivemind is, its reach is not infinite. To extend its influence, particularly over the less intelligent organisms of the swarm, it must make use of Synapse creatures. You are one such being, a Tyranid Warrior. The prime example of the elite of the Tyranid race, you and your brethren are intelligent, skilled and very, very lethal to the prey you hunt. You’ll be spending much of your time here in a combat role, likely as a fusion between a commander and an elite soldier, marshalling the animalistic Tyranids against your foes as you cut them down yourself. Monster- 100 Towering, thundering, roaring beasts. The Carnifex is one of the signature sites of the Tyranid swarm and one of the most terrifying. Larger than a tank and possessing strength to tear machines of war asunder and ignore much of the firepower of their opponents. You are one of the many breeds of these mighty beasts of war, with all the power they normally have and full intelligence. You are the Tyranid’s equivalent of a heavily armoured tank and will doubtless be on the frontlines of war on a constant basis. Norn Queen- 100 The Norn Queens are the individual, immense directors of the evolutionary path of the Hive Fleets. Each one is big enough to fill a massive room and are responsible for the creation of every single type of Tyranid in existence, almost. While they do not literally birth each and every Tyranid organism, they are responsible for creating the blueprints for their DNA by mixing and creating such things. As a Norn Queen, you are unlikely to see any direct combat but you will be responsible for perhaps the most important role in the entire hive fleet. You are a newborn of whatever species and breed you have chosen, age being mostly irrelevant for Tyranids. Gender is even more pointless, given that Tyranids do not reproduce through such methods and thus you simply lack a gender as a Tyranid. Perks All perks are discounted to their connected origins. 100CP perks are free for the connected origins. However, the Command origin can only pick two perks on each pricing level (200, 400, 600) to have discounted and may only take two of their 100CP perks free. Independence- Free Despite your individual nature and the most assuredly odd origin of your being, the hivemind will not consider you more interesting or notable than any other Tyranid for that fact and will not act against you. If you act against the Tyranid race, then this will likely change, but so long as you support the hivemind it will consider you an ally and not question your nature or experiences in other worlds. You will also be capable of surviving being absorbed by Tyranid ships and reborn elsewhere in the Hive Fleet, though this ‘continuity’ function will not work for any other situation, even those similar in mechanics. Infiltrator Hiding in the Hives- 100 The first step of infiltration, surprisingly enough, is actually infiltrating a location. You can’t carry out your work of weakening the enemy from the inside out if you’re stuck on the outside. Thankfully, you’re as masterful a sneak as there ever was. You won’t be breaking into a space marine fortress, not unless you have a mighty great distraction to help, but sneaking past the defences of the governor’s palace on some Hive city? Easy time. Not worth even mentioning the security of the city itself, as you can get by almost any guard or technology that might detect you and can be found there. Even if someone saw you, it seems like people find the idea of you being present an uncomfortable one, and it’ll take multiple witnesses or video evidence for them to believe a genestealer was actually in their midst. Scout Out Survival- 100 Your mission is to land far ahead of your fleet and prepare worlds for the arrival of the main invasion force, making them weak and easy for eating. This means you are often without support, aside from your fellow genestealers. Once you have agents and cults set up, this becomes easier, but in the early days it can mean day to day survival is a major task.